2019 FINA Men's Water Polo World League

The 2019 FINA Men's Water Polo World League was the 18th edition of the annual men's international water polo tournament. It was played between October 2018 and June 2019 and opened to all men's water polo national teams. After participating in a preliminary round, eight teams qualified to play in a final tournament, called the Super Final from 18 to 23 June 2019.^[1][2][3]

2019 FINA Men's Water Polo World League
League	FINA Water Polo World League
Sport	Water Polo
Duration	23 October 2018 to 23 June 2019
Super Final
Finals champions	Serbia (12th title)
Runners-up	Croatia

In the world league, there are specific rules that do not allow matches to end in a draw. If teams are level at the end of the 4th quarter of any world league match, the match will be decided by a penalty shootout. Teams earn points in the standings in group matches as follows:

• Match won in normal time – 3 points
• Match won in shootout – 2 points
• Match lost in shootout – 1 point
• Match lost in normal time – 0 points

Preliminary rounds

European Qualification

• October 23, 2018 – March 12, 2019

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Hungary	6	5	1	0	0	102	53	+49	17	Europa Cup Final		—	10–8	17–9	24–8
2	Russia	6	4	0	0	2	89	52	+37	12			8–15	—	14–8	23–4
3	Germany	6	2	0	1	3	80	79	+1	7			12–12 (4–5)	10–18	—	23–9
4	Malta	6	0	0	0	6	43	130	−87	0			8–24	5–18	9–18	—

Source: FINA
Rules for classification: Only goals scored in regular time are counted.

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Spain	6	5	0	0	1	67	30	+37	15	Europa Cup Final		—	5–7	14–7	17–2
2	Greece	6	5	0	0	1	86	34	+52	15			4–7	—	14–9	25–2
3	Netherlands	6	2	0	0	4	59	63	−4	6			7–13	6–12	—	15–5
4	Ukraine	6	0	0	0	6	22	107	−85	0			3–11	5–24	5–15	—

Source: FINA
Rules for classification: Only goals scored in regular time are counted.

Group C

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Italy	4	3	0	1	0	37	25	+12	10	Europa Cup Final		—	11–10	12–3
2	Montenegro	4	2	1	0	1	41	36	+5	8			8–8 (3–0)	—	10–8
3	France	4	0	0	0	4	24	41	−17	0			4–6	9–13	—

Source: FINA
Rules for classification: Only goals scored in regular time are counted.

Group D

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Croatia	4	3	0	1	0	47	27	+20	10	Europa Cup Final		—	12–9	17–4
2	Serbia	4	2	1	0	1	42	31	+11	8			7–7 (4–2)	—	13–6
3	Romania	4	0	0	0	4	23	54	−31	0			7–11	6–13	—

Source: FINA
Rules for classification: Only goals scored in regular time are counted.

Europa Cup Final

• April 5–7, 2019, Zagreb, Croatia

Bracket

	Quarterfinals				Semifinals				Final
	5 April
	Hungary	11
					6 April
	Montenegro	7
					Hungary	12
	5 April
					Italy	11
	Italy	11
									7 April
	Russia	9
									Hungary	10
	5 April
									Croatia	8
	Spain	13
					6 April
	Serbia	12
					Spain	9
	5 April
					Croatia	12			Third place game
	Croatia	13
									7 April
	Greece	11
									Italy	7
									Spain	9

5th–8th place bracket

	5th–8th place semifinals				Fifth place game
	6 April
	Montenegro	15
					7 April
	Russia	9
					Montenegro	16
	6 April
					Serbia	14
	Serbia	14
	Greece	10
					Seventh place game
					7 April
					Russia	14
					Greece	15

Final ranking

	Qualified to Super Final
	Qualified to Super Final as host country

Rank	Team
	Hungary
	Croatia
	Spain
4	Italy
5	Montenegro
6	Serbia
7	Greece
8	Russia

Source:^[4]

Intercontinental Cup

• March 26–31, 2019, Perth, Australia

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Australia	3	2	1	0	0	40	26	+14	8	Quarterfinals		—	—	—	—
2	Japan	3	2	0	1	0	44	36	+8	7			12–12 (3–5)	—	13–10	19–14
3	Canada	3	1	0	0	2	36	26	+10	3			8–9	—	—	18–4
4	South Africa	3	0	0	0	3	24	56	−32	0			6–19	—	—	—

Source: FINA
Rules for classification: Only goals scored in regular time are counted.

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Kazakhstan	3	2	0	1	0	32	25	+7	7	Quarterfinals		—	—	11–5	12–11
2	China	3	1	1	1	0	32	25	+7	6			9–9 (7–6)	—	9–9 (4–5)	14–7
3	Argentina	3	1	1	0	1	28	29	−1	5			—	—	—	14–9
4	New Zealand	3	0	0	0	3	27	40	−13	0			—	—	—	—

Source: FINA
Rules for classification: Only goals scored in regular time are counted.

Bracket

	Quarterfinals				Semifinals				Final
	29 March
	Japan	13
					30 March
	Argentina	8
					Japan	12
	29 March
					Kazakhstan	7
	South Africa	8
									31 March
	Kazakhstan	14
									Japan	8
	29 March
									Australia	10
	Canada	11
					30 March
	China	10
					Canada	7
	29 March
					Australia	14			Third place game
	Australia	15
									31 March
	New Zealand	4
									Kazakhstan	4
									Canada	9

5th–8th place bracket

	5th–8th place semifinals				Fifth place game
	30 March
	Argentina	12
					31 March
	South Africa	6
					Argentina	7
	30 March
					China	5
	China	11
	New Zealand	8
					Seventh place game
					31 March
					South Africa	8
					New Zealand	10

Final ranking

Qualified to Super Final

Rank	Team
	Australia
	Japan
	Canada
4	Kazakhstan
5	Argentina
6	China
7	New Zealand
8	South Africa

Source:^[5]

Super Final

• June 18–23, 2019, Belgrade, Serbia

Venue

Belgrade	Belgrade 2019 FINA Men's Water Polo World League (Serbia)
Tašmajdan Sports and Recreation Center
Capacity: 2,500

Qualified teams

Africa	Americas	Asia	Europe	Oceania
—	Canada	Japan  Kazakhstan	Croatia  Hungary  Serbia (Host)  Spain	Australia

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Spain	3	2	0	1	0	41	26	+15	7	Quarterfinals		—	—	—	—
2	Hungary	3	1	1	0	1	33	30	+3	5			11–11 (4–1)	—	13–9	9–10
3	Japan	3	1	0	0	2	36	38	−2	3[lower-alpha 1]			10–18	—	—	17–7
4	Canada	3	1	0	0	2	22	38	−16	3[lower-alpha 1]			5–12	—	—	—

Source: FINA
Rules for classification: Only goals scored in regular time are counted.
Notes:

1. Japan 17–7 Canada

All times are UTC+2.

18 June 2019 15:45	Report	Hungary	9–10	Canada	Belgrade, Serbia Referees: Viktor Salnichenko (KAZ), Vojin Putniković (SRB)
		Score by quarters: 1–3, 3–2, 3–4, 2–1
		Kállay 3	Goals	D'Souza 3

18 June 2019 19:15	Report	Japan	10–18	Spain	Belgrade, Serbia Referees: Arkadiy Voevodin (RUS), Adrian Alexandrescu (ROU)
		Score by quarters: 3–3, 3–6, 1–5, 3–4
		Inaba 4	Goals	three players 4

19 June 2019 15:00	Report	Japan	17–7	Canada	Belgrade, Serbia Referees: Daniel Flahive (AUS), Viktor Salnichenko (KAZ)
		Score by quarters: 6–2, 2–2, 8–2, 1–1
		Arai, Inaba 4	Goals	Halajian 2

19 June 2019 16:45	Report	Hungary	15–12	Spain	Belgrade, Serbia Referees: Boris Margeta (SLO), Nenad Periš (CRO)
		Score by quarters: 2–3, 3–3, 3–3, 3–2  PSO: 4–1
		Pásztor 4	Goals	Granados 4

20 June 2019 16:45	Report	Hungary	13–9	Japan	Belgrade, Serbia Referees: Nenad Periš (CRO), Vojin Putniković (SRB)
		Score by quarters: 3–3, 3–3, 3–2, 4–1
		Toni 5	Goals	Inaba 4

20 June 2019 19:45	Report	Canada	5–12	Spain	Belgrade, Serbia Referees: Georgios Stavridis (GRE), Daniel Flahive (AUS)
		Score by quarters: 2–2, 1–1, 2–4, 0–5
		D'Souza 4	Goals	Granados 3

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	OTW	OTL	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Serbia (H)	3	3	0	0	0	43	24	+19	9	Quarterfinals		—	—	—	—
2	Croatia	3	2	0	0	1	41	24	+17	6			10–11	—	11–9	20–4
3	Australia	3	1	0	0	2	31	28	+3	3			8–12	—	—	14–5
4	Kazakhstan	3	0	0	0	3	15	54	−39	0			6–20	—	—	—

Source: FINA
Rules for classification: Only goals scored in regular time are counted.
(H) Host

All times are UTC+2.

18 June 2019 14:00	Report	Croatia	20–4	Kazakhstan	Belgrade, Serbia Referees: Kunihiro Sato (JPN), Mikhail Dykman (CAN)
		Score by quarters: 5–2, 6–0, 3–0, 6–2
		Vukičević 4	Goals	Aubakirov 2

18 June 2019 21:00	Report	Australia	8–12	Serbia	Belgrade, Serbia Referees: Georgios Stavridis (GRE), Jaume Teixido (ESP)
		Score by quarters: 5–4, 0–3, 3–4, 0–1
		three players 2	Goals	Prlainović 3

19 June 2019 19:15	Report	Australia	14–5	Kazakhstan	Belgrade, Serbia Referees: Georgios Stavridis (GRE), György Kun (HUN)
		Score by quarters: 3–2, 4–1, 3–0, 4–2
		five players 2	Goals	Aubakirov 2

19 June 2019 21:00	Report	Croatia	10–11	Serbia	Belgrade, Serbia Referees: Adrian Alexandrescu (ROU), Arkadiy Voevodin (RUS)
		Score by quarters: 3–2, 2–2, 1–4, 4–3
		Joković 4	Goals	Stojanović 3

20 June 2019 15:00	Report	Croatia	11–9	Australia	Belgrade, Serbia Referees: Arkadiy Voevodin (RUS), György Kun (HUN)
		Score by quarters: 2–3, 2–2, 6–3, 1–1
		Vrlić 3	Goals	Ford 3

20 June 2019 21:00	Report	Kazakhstan	6–20	Serbia	Belgrade, Serbia Referees: Mikhail Dykman (CAN), Jaume Teixidó (ESP)
		Score by quarters: 0–4, 3–6, 1–6, 2–4
		Shakenov 3	Goals	Rašović 5

Bracket

	Quarterfinals				Semifinals				Final
	21 June 2019
	Hungary	10 (5)
					22 June 2019
	Australia (pen.)	10 (6)
					Australia	11
	21 June 2019
					Serbia	16
	Canada	5
									23 June 2019
	Serbia	20
									Serbia	12
	21 June 2019
									Croatia	11
	Japan	14
					22 June 2019
	Croatia	20
					Croatia	10
	21 June 2019
					Spain	8			Third place game
	Spain	19
									23 June 2019
	Kazakhstan	10
									Australia	11
									Spain	10

5th–8th place bracket

	5th–8th place semifinals				Fifth place game
	22 June 2019
	Hungary	15
					23 June 2019
	Canada	8
					Hungary	15
	22 June 2019
					Japan	13
	Japan	13
	Kazakhstan	12
					Seventh place game
					23 June 2019
					Canada	13 (3)
					Kazakhstan (pen.)	13 (4)

All times are UTC+2.

Quarterfinals

21 June 2019 15:00	Report	Hungary	15–16	Australia	Belgrade, Serbia Referees: Boris Margeta (SLO), Nenad Periš (CRO)
		Score by quarters: 2–1, 3–0, 2–4, 3–5  PSO: 5–6
		Bátori 3	Goals	Campbell 3

21 June 2019 16:45	Report	Japan	14–20	Croatia	Belgrade, Serbia Referees: Georgios Stavridis (GRE), Vojin Putniković (SRB)
		Score by quarters: 3–4, 3–6, 2–5, 6–5
		Inaba 6	Goals	Fatović 5

21 June 2019 19:15	Report	Spain	19–10	Kazakhstan	Belgrade, Serbia Referees: Arkadiy Voevodin (RUS), Daniel Flahive (AUS)
		Score by quarters: 4–1, 4–2, 6–4, 5–3
		Granados 5	Goals	Ruday 3

21 June 2019 21:00	Report	Canada	5–20	Serbia	Belgrade, Serbia Referees: Adrian Alexandrescu (ROU), Kunihiro Sato (JPN)
		Score by quarters: 2–5, 2–6, 0–4, 1–5
		D 'Souza 4	Goals	Mandić, Filipović 3

5th–8th place semifinals

22 June 2019 10:00	Report	Hungary	15–8	Canada	Belgrade, Serbia Referees: Daniel Flahive (AUS), Jaume Teixidó (ESP)
		Score by quarters: 4–3, 4–3, 3–1, 4–1
		three players 3	Goals	D 'Souza 3

22 June 2019 11:45	Report	Japan	13–12	Kazakhstan	Belgrade, Serbia Referees: Nenad Periš (CRO), Vojin Putniković (SRB)
		Score by quarters: 4–2, 4–2, 2–3, 3–5
		Inaba 5	Goals	Shakenov 4

Semifinals

22 June 2019 15:00	Report	Australia	11–16	Serbia	Belgrade, Serbia Referees: Adrian Alexandrescu (ROU), Arkadiy Voevodin (RUS)
		Score by quarters: 2–6, 2–3, 3–2, 4–5
		Kayes 3	Goals	Filipović 5

22 June 2019 16:45	Report	Croatia	10–8	Spain	Belgrade, Serbia Referees: Boris Margeta (SLO), Georgios Stavridis (GRE)
		Score by quarters: 5–1, 3–2, 2–4, 0–1
		Vrlić, García 2	Goals	Munarriz 3

7th place game

23 June 2019 10:00	Report	Canada	16–17	Kazakhstan	Belgrade, Serbia Referees: György Kun (HUN), Jaume Teixidó (ESP)
		Score by quarters: 4–2, 3–3, 4–5, 2–3  PSO: 3–4
		Constantin-Bicari 5	Goals	Zhardan 4

5th place game

23 June 2019 11:45	Report	Hungary	15–13	Japan	Belgrade, Serbia Referees: Mikhail Dykman (CAN), Viktor Salnichenko (KAZ)
		Score by quarters: 4–3, 4–2, 2–2, 5–6
		three players 3	Goals	Okawa 4

3rd place game

23 June 2019 15:00	Report	Australia	11–10	Spain	Belgrade, Serbia Referees: Boris Margeta (SLO), Vojin Putniković (SRB)
		Score by quarters: 3–1, 2–3, 4–4, 2–2
		Kayes 4	Goals	Mallarach 3

Final

23 June 2019 16:45	Report	Serbia	12–11	Croatia	Belgrade, Serbia Referees: Georgios Stavridis (GRE), Adrian Alexandrescu (ROU)
		Score by quarters: 1–3, 5–2, 1–3, 5–3
		Mandić, Filipović 4	Goals	Vukičević 5

Final ranking

Qualified for the 2020 Olympic Games Rank[1] Team  Serbia  Croatia  Australia 4  Spain 5  Hungary 6  Japan 7  Kazakhstan 8  Canada Source:[6]

2019 FINA Men's Water Polo World League  Serbia 12th title Team Roster Gojko Pijetlović, Dušan Mandić, Ognjen Stojanović, Sava Ranđelović, Miloš Ćuk, Duško Pijetlović, Nemanja Vico, Milan Aleksić, Nikola Jakšić, Filip Filipović, Andrija Prlainović, Stefan Mitrović, Branislav Mitrović, Radomir Drašović, Strahinja Rašović. Head coach: Dejan Savić.

Awards

Finals MVP	Top Scorer	Best Goalkeeper	MVP
Filip Filipović	Yusuke Inaba (26 goals)	Marko Bijač	Filip Filipović

References

1. "HistoFINA – Water polo medalists and statistics" (PDF). fina.org. FINA. September 2019. p. 40. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 August 2021. Retrieved 6 August 2021.
2. "Media book 2019" (PDF). www.fina.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 June 2019. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
3. "Information bulletin" (PDF). www.fina.org. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 June 2019. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
4. "Hungary's payback tour ends up in gold". www.fina.org. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
5. "Day 6: Australia and USA claim Intercontinental Cups in Perth". www.fina.org. Retrieved 5 June 2019.
6. "The heavens opened first, then the Serbs went up". www.fina.org. Retrieved 24 June 2019.

External links

• Official website
• FINA Water Polo World League Super Final Archived 2019-06-17 at the Wayback Machine